On Thursday 14 November, a protest was staged outside the Fitzgerald Chamber of the UCD Student Centre by a large group of students, protesting the most recent debate hosted by the Literary and Historical Society.
On Thursday 14 November, a protest was staged outside the Fitzgerald Chamber of the UCD Student Centre by a large group of students, protesting the most recent debate hosted by the Literary and Historical Society.
The LnH debate in question was ‘The Abortion Debate’, with the motion ‘This House Believes Fathers should have a Say’. This is the third annual ‘Abortion Debate’ the LnH have hosted, with the 2023 motion ‘This house would mandate GPs to provide abortion care’ and the 2022 motion ‘This house believes that the Irish Government should condemn the decision to overturn Roe v Wade’.
The protestors gathered at 5.30pm, holding signs which read ‘this community believes the L&H needs to change’. The group began chanting in protest shortly before 6pm, and remained outside the chamber for the entirety of the debate. Chants included ‘My body, my life, my right to decide’, ‘keep your rosaries off our ovaries’, and ‘LnH, shame on you’.
The University Observer spoke with two organisers of the protest at 5:45pm, prior to the start of the debate. When asked what led to the protest, Raphael recalled their journey into campus on Wednesday, “Yesterday morning, I walked into campus, I saw one of the graffitied posters in the student centre and, when I saw that poster, I just felt my heart sink in my chest.”
They continued, “It's not like the end of the world, I am comfortable in Ireland, I'm comfortable that my reproductive rights are safe in Ireland, but it's just so unpleasant going to campus, to somewhere that you love and you feel safe, and seeing that one of UCD's most prestigious, oldest and historical societies is platforming this sort of debate.”
Raphael referenced the annual abortion debate which the LnH hold, and cited the appearance of Mairéad Tóibín from the political party Aontú two years ago. "Aontú are very, very vocal about how they want reproductive rights taken away from women in Ireland, and I think it's kind of just unacceptable that [LnH] keep hosting these debates just because it is such a catchy headline.”
Another organiser of the protest, Myra, argued that the LnH Society “has a tendency with stuff that involves women, to make a debate about ‘should we restrict women's rights’ in every occasion they can. They don't mention women, or they say ‘should we restrict their rights?’ And, I guess we just saw it, and we just were sick of it.”
Raphael continued, "We don't want to see that students in UCD are completely fine with hosting these sorts of debates that make people on campus feel unsafe. I'm not the only one who felt unsafe and upset by seeing the posters on campus. Everybody here is upset by seeing those posters on campus.”
When asked about the nature of the protest, Raphael said that participants were “just standing outside. We're telling people not to go inside. If they don't have anyone inside, they don't have a debate.” When asked whether or not they would enter the debate chamber, both organisers responded, “No, not at all.” Myra continued, “We have no intention of entering the chamber. We have no intention of stopping the debate from happening. What we are trying to do is we are just trying to make clear to the LNH, this is unacceptable.”
The pair emphasised that the protest was not affiliated with any particular society and was instead student-led, “We did this last night. We just put it up on our Instagram stories, ‘we're protesting the LNH's event’, and there's this many people.”
Entry to the debate was delayed by 30 minutes, beginning at 6.30pm. The University Observer was denied access to the debate by the LnH committee, on the grounds that the speakers had requested that no press be present. The debate concluded at 7.30pm.
Following the conclusion of the debate, The University Observer captured video footage of an attendee who appeared to make a salute associated with the Nazi Party. The individual was then approached by a number of the protestors, after which the attendee exited the student centre.
Students Comment
As students lined up to enter the debating chamber, two students attending the debate told the University Observer that they are pro-choice, but added “I'm not seeing the nature of this debate as pro-life versus pro-choice.” The two students claimed they were in a group chat where plans for the protest were being discussed, and that the protestors were “misconstruing” what the debate was about. They said that as discussion in the group chat continued, it shifted focus, and members “weren't happy with how LnH objectifies women and uses women's issues to get clout.” They both stated they disagreed with that sentiment, stating “I think it's just a common debate and they seem to do it every year.”
One student expressed anger at the protestors, saying “I feel like it is controversial to discussion [sic] and nobody's trying to take away any rights. I feel like it's important to have the conversation about this topic.” This student pointed to the recent example of the “Trump vs Harris” debate prior to the US Presidential Election and argued, “It's also controversial whether you would like Harris to be president or Donald Trump. So I feel like it's important to discuss those topics.” They concluded, “Nobody is trying to put an opinion on someone. It's just about discussion. So I feel like it's important to also discuss controversial topics.”
Another student queuing for entry said that although they are pro-choice, they had “mixed feelings” over the debate. They stated that “I go to any debate and I like hearing both sides. What I see is that they're platforming a side that's going against abortion rights. And I'm pro-choice.” They continued “I think I saw hearing both sides as good for a debate. But I see that it is kind of controversial, having shown [the father should have a say] side and kind of uplifting that side as a valuable side.” When asked for their thoughts on the protest, the student confirmed that they were supportive of it. After a delay of 30 minutes entry to the debate began, though this student decided not to enter the chamber. They said that they “agreed” with the protest, and it had convinced them not to enter.
The Literary and Historical society were contacted for comment at 8pm on Thursday night, and were given until midday on Friday 15 November to respond. The University Observer has received no comment from the society at the time of publishing. This story is being updated.